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Old 01-06-2015, 09:52 PM   #1
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WANTED: Input of Owners of Winnebago Journey/Itasca Meridian 36M

Hi Y'All,

We are seriously considering the 2015 Itasca 36M but have only seen it online. Heading out tomorrow to see it in person. We are new to Winnebago/Itasca so any suggestions from owners of the Winnebago Journey or Itasca Meridian 36M since are the same RV will be most helpful.

What do you love about it and are there any negatives for you? What tips can you give us?

We are going from a 25' Safari Trek Class A gas. We want to stay short because we love to stay in State Parks and I feel more comfortable driving a shorter rig. It is just us two young-minded retirees so we are more concerned about lots of living area for living and entertaining than on how many it will sleep. Love the idea of a WD, a real bedroom and fireplace! We like taking trips of a week to a month and maybe longer but not full-timers. We did consider the Tiffin Breeze and RED 33AA but decided against them when we found the Itasca Meridian 36M which has everything we want, need and desire!

Thanks for your input and Happy 2015!
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Old 01-06-2015, 10:08 PM   #2
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We were almost ready to purchase the 36M, and we were just waiting for the 2015's to arrive with the extras we wanted, then we saw the Allegro Red 38QRA. Our previous RV was an Adventurer, and Winnebago makes an excellent product. No complaints. However, the 36M has a very small central bathroom. The layout makes it really inconvenient for two to access the sink, it is even tight for one. Also the center isle when everything is closed up was rather tight. Since both my wife and I have mobility issues, it would have been difficult to access the frig or toilet without partially opening a slide. The Tiffin Allegro better addressed these issues to our needs. Just something to think about. As for my evaluation of the Journey/Itasca 36M...an excellent motorhome.
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Old 01-07-2015, 07:11 AM   #3
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Love Winnebago but mine has PowerGear slides, avoid the Shwinteck slides, IMO. Talk to an RV repair technician about how many of those he works on each week . . .
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Old 01-07-2015, 10:27 AM   #4
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I have an 2012 36m and love it. My wife likes the 2nd sink in the bedroom. I think that option was removed in the '14 or '15 years. No issues. It has power gear on the main slides, Shwinteck on the bedroom closet.
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Old 01-07-2015, 09:48 PM   #5
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We have fulltimed in ours since new March 2012. Just turned 29K, which included 6+k in Canada/Alaska this past summer, including Top Of The World Highway (Not sure I would do TOW again).

No major issues.

TIP: Purchase in June or August. That way if you decide to have your warranty items taken care of at the factory, like we did, you will not be there when the temp is -3. Also, can take in GNR if you can afford the time.

I was concerned about the full wall slide, but so far no issues.

If you do not want to repair things after warranty yourself, be sure to budget for them. I replaced the dryer heating element and belt, unblocked the refrigerator defrost drain and resealed the shower skylight because of a water leak. Not particularly hard, but time consuming. At $100 per hr/plus, it can get expensive.

We love or 36M. We had the original shower door replaced with the new sliding door. We are not real happy with the air bed, after having a Sleep Number in our previous Adventurer. But have adapted. If it goes bad, I will replace with a Sleep Number.

We are going back to the factory in July to have our kitchen countertop replaced under a previous warranty issue, and to have our windshield replaced. Then will enjoy GNR.

Our departure, so far, has never been delayed by a major coach/chassis issue.

I sure wish they could get these double paned windows to not develop leaks. Our bedroom window is going bad, and will need to be fixed soon.
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Old 01-07-2015, 10:08 PM   #6
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We purchased our coach from Lichtsinn Motors. Very satisfied with deal, walk through and some warranty work after. Took advantage of driving the coach home instead of a stranger driving it.

Thought we were treated fairly. Staff treated us like family when we were there for warranty work. Enjoyed the interaction with everyone including the owner. They seem to have time to talk to you personally.

Would buy another coach from them.
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Old 01-08-2015, 06:50 PM   #7
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Hi Austx! We have a 2013 Journey 36M...love, love, love it! Our year still had the 2nd lav in the bedroom and really like that feature. Also, we chose the extension booth dinette..really love this! Since we are only 2 of us, we like that the dinette booth is more compact than full-size booths, and we really thought all chair type dinette were uncomfortable seats, and "just one more thing to remember to secure chairs prior to driving off." We hope this extension booth dinette will still be offered when we are ready to get our next MH. If we need to sit four, we just extend the booth seating (pulls out similar to the "L" sofa in some MH), but otherwise the smaller size provides comfy place to eat and gives more floor space :-). We have had problems with Camping World service (long story for another time.. FWIW, we did buy at CW and super Ctr Cw was closer drive for svc than Forest City.) We are about 600 miles to Forest City, and we did take MH there for Service in Sept '14....a wonderful decision, great staff, treated us like welcome guests, friendly, promptly and cheerfully took care of the items we wanted. We can highly recommend doing any service /warranty items at Forest City. It is just such a difference to know the people doing the work CARE about doing it right, and know your MH like no one else. The air bed is probably our only disappointment, in that we just don't find it lives up to the "sleep number" competitor, but not awful either. We also like having decent size night stands with the queen bed, and we like the vertical lower cabinet in the bedroom (just the right size for the mesh-pop-up laundry hamper). We didn't order in our coach, it was a new MH available on the dealer lot. We purchased in February and that proved a great time to save some $. We tow a Jeep GC, and added Air Force One, and Pressure Pro TPMS and the 36M doesn't even know the 5K lb Jeep is back there. We still winter in our stick/brick, and travel 2-4 wks trips with stop overs at the S/B in between trips April-November. Happy shopping! Loving our 36M:-)
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Old 01-09-2015, 01:36 PM   #8
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Hello I picked up my 36M in the spring of 2013. Had just gas models before big difference. Only issue is that the counter top in kitchen was cracked in the right rear corner to the back edge. Seeing that it was like that when I picked it up it should be under warranty will se . I do my own oil changes so that save a bit of money. Love the rig first winter setting in the drive way so this spring when I uncover it will really tell the story of Winnebago quality.
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Old 01-10-2015, 08:45 AM   #9
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I am waiting on my 2015 journey to be delivered. On the way from FC it blew a transmission cooling line. Its at the Freightliner shop in Amarillo waiting on parts. Been there since 12.29. Parts on order "direct ship from vendor" no ship date available. Needless to say I am p....d.
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Old 01-10-2015, 11:44 AM   #10
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UPDATE: Many thanks for everyone's feedback and great tips!

Super sales rep Roz Latta at CW of San Antonio brought up a 2015 Itasca Meridian 36M from Houston CW and we got to see it last Thursday. I think we have looked at every floorplan out there and this one looked like what we wanted but there's nothing like seeing it LIVE!

From the minute we walked in, it was PERFECT for us. Waldorf interior with the dark counters, air sleep 42" TV,queen bed, chairs and table, fireplaces, satilitte, solar panel and exterior TV with Fieldstone exterior. Love all the room in the living area, nice kitchen area, and LOTS of windows, love the fireplaces in the living area and bedroom! In fact, we had both fireplaces going as it was 46 degrees.

We are so excited! We pick her up next Thursday and are off for 2 weeks RVing at Blanco State Park and Inks Lake State Park to trouble shoot it and ENJOY. And we already have 3 other trips scheduled!

Roz came highly recommendedand. Roz was great and fun to work with plus she got us an AWESOME price! Call Roz for a fabulous RV buying experience!!!

We were so ready to find the right RV and being "On the Road Again"!!! And we did with our 2014 Itasca Meridian 36M! YAHOO!!!
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Old 01-10-2015, 04:20 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by austx View Post
Hi Y'All,

We are seriously considering the 2015 Itasca 36M but have only seen it online. Heading out tomorrow to see it in person. We are new to Winnebago/Itasca so any suggestions from owners of the Winnebago Journey or Itasca Meridian 36M since are the same RV will be most helpful.

What do you love about it and are there any negatives for you? What tips can you give us?

We are going from a 25' Safari Trek Class A gas. We want to stay short because we love to stay in State Parks and I feel more comfortable driving a shorter rig. It is just us two young-minded retirees so we are more concerned about lots of living area for living and entertaining than on how many it will sleep. Love the idea of a WD, a real bedroom and fireplace! We like taking trips of a week to a month and maybe longer but not full-timers. We did consider the Tiffin Breeze and RED 33AA but decided against them when we found the Itasca Meridian 36M which has everything we want, need and desire!

Thanks for your input and Happy 2015!
Hope you guy's have your coach now. We have a 36M 2013 model
and love it ! Had some problems with the full wall slide system but after
a replacement and a few trips to Lazy days my dealear I think I have it
fixed. I just ran into the former Pres & CEO of Winnebago at a ralley here
and he was well aware of the problems with that system.He thinks that
their may have been a mid line change on the type of system on the full
wall slide to another system like power gear.On my way to the Tampa
super show next week and will report back on that one I know it was not
changed on this modle at the Hersey show last fall.

I have had some complaints about the Roof AC making what I thought was too much noise.
Called Winnebago and RV products and got the new type blades for the fan on the top of the coach
and it is much quieter now on the out side any way.

Rick From FLA
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Old 01-10-2015, 07:20 PM   #12
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If the main TV was only not in the wrong place then this is a great floorplan. Why couldn't it be across from the larger sofa?
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Old 01-11-2015, 12:12 AM   #13
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Certainly not the same chassis but layout of new 2015 Forza/Solei 36G is very nice with location of tv and fireplace.
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Old 01-11-2015, 12:29 PM   #14
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So sorry

Quote:
Originally Posted by jrobnett View Post
I am waiting on my 2015 journey to be delivered. On the way from FC it blew a transmission cooling line. Its at the Freightliner shop in Amarillo waiting on parts. Been there since 12.29. Parts on order "direct ship from vendor" no ship date available. Needless to say I am p....d.
We feel your pain. So sorry. We would be p.....d too. Hope you get it soon and you can hit the road trouble free.
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Old 01-20-2015, 06:08 AM   #15
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Fan noise

Rick from FLA,
could you elaborate a little on the new fan blades. Our 2013 Meridian 34B air conditioners remind me of standing alongside a B52 on takeoff. Unless it is too hot we run the rear AC during the day and the front AC at night just to reduce the noise level.
Thanks for any additional insight you can give me.
CBTraveler
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Old 01-20-2015, 08:58 PM   #16
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Sure

The blades I had replaced were the fan blades that cool the coils

on top of the coach. they went from a 5 blade to a 3 blade

Scimitar design . it makes the noise on the out side of the

MH less . Try running you AC in low cool instead of auto.

the fan noise is less in side coach as in auto it starts out and

at max blow and may stay that way through the full cycle

Rick from FLA
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Old 02-02-2015, 11:26 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by austx View Post
UPDATE: Many thanks for everyone's feedback and great tips!

Super sales rep Roz Latta at CW of San Antonio brought up a 2015 Itasca Meridian 36M from Houston CW and we got to see it last Thursday. I think we have looked at every floorplan out there and this one looked like what we wanted but there's nothing like seeing it LIVE!

From the minute we walked in, it was PERFECT for us. Waldorf interior with the dark counters, air sleep 42" TV,queen bed, chairs and table, fireplaces, satilitte, solar panel and exterior TV with Fieldstone exterior. Love all the room in the living area, nice kitchen area, and LOTS of windows, love the fireplaces in the living area and bedroom! In fact, we had both fireplaces going as it was 46 degrees.

We are so excited! We pick her up next Thursday and are off for 2 weeks RVing at Blanco State Park and Inks Lake State Park to trouble shoot it and ENJOY. And we already have 3 other trips scheduled!

Roz came highly recommendedand. Roz was great and fun to work with plus she got us an AWESOME price! Call Roz for a fabulous RV buying experience!!!

We were so ready to find the right RV and being "On the Road Again"!!! And we did with our 2014 Itasca Meridian 36M! YAHOO!!!
Congratulations! I've looked at the info on that unit and checked some of the pricing. I like that 34M floorplan and the overall size is very nice.
Hope it's going all well!
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Old 03-18-2015, 06:21 AM   #18
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We have a Meridian 36 m also. Did you replace the AC fan blades yourself? Where did you purchase them?
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